DEMO diary: Boredom sets in

DEMO Diary
A series of behind-the-scenes reports on Bellevue’s LiquidPlanner, tracking the ups and downs of a startup as it debuts at the high-pressure DEMO conference. Click here for past reports.

They’ve been anxiously waiting for more than two hours to practice their pitch on the DEMO main stage. Apparently, the rehearsals are running behind schedule as high winds into Palm Springs delayed the arrival of some entrepreneurs.

To keep his mind occupied, Seybold spins a Starbucks beverage holder on his middle finger in the ballroom of the DEMO conference. He’s looked at photos of the snowman his kids built in the backyard and listened to numerous pitches of other presenters. Meanwhile, Henry — who tried to burn some energy on a morning run — is losing steam since he skipped lunch.

Luckily, director of marketing Liz Pearce just returned with a grande mocha and soy latte to keep the executives fueled for their rehearsal.

“There’s nothing like boredom to wash away your nervousness,” says Seybold as he paces around the ballroom. Occasionally, he pops onto the stage to discuss some last minute preparations with Henry.

Charles Seybold and Bruce Henry take another look at their DEMO presentation

But, at this point, the two executives are ready to go. They are already thinking about the mojitos at the hotel bar.

Henry has occupied some of the time by chatting with other entrepreneurs, including Nitin Bhandari of Mountain View, Calif.-based Skyfire. Describing the LiquidPlanner product, Henry seems like he’s giving the full pitch. Consider it more practice.

But Bhandari seemed interested. “So hopefully, once I use your product I would not have to use Microsoft Project again,” he says. “God bless you.”

That’s the exact response that LiquidPlanner wants.

And Henry — who stands on the stage in a casual striped shirt — is feeling pretty good about the company’s preparation.

Over the past two days, he’s seen some DEMO presenters working on scripts and finishing product development in the hotel lobby.

“There were little knots of tech guys who were really identifiable because there were laptops, they were young and they weren’t carrying golf bags,” says Henry. “Some looked pretty confident, some looked bleak.”

Meanwhile, Pearce sits in the ballroom catching up on a few e-mails.

“We still have not rehearsed,” says Pearce as she takes a call on her phone.